


to meet halfway

by thisissirius



Series: RealWolf [2]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Gen, Pack Bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-11-06
Updated: 2011-11-06
Packaged: 2017-10-25 18:51:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/273588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisissirius/pseuds/thisissirius
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An alpha protects their pack; without trust, they can't <i>work</i>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	to meet halfway

**Author's Note:**

> because ionaonie wanted derek pov and i'm easy. much less assured about how ic he is, though. derek, why you gotta be so hard?

Derek pads into the room and the smell of Kate's dead body fills his nostrils. He feels sick to his stomach but he doesn't know if that's the stench of death or some other emotion altogether. He contemplates sitting back on his haunches, just _staring_ , but he stops short when he catches the scent of _beta_ and _human_. He swings his head to the left and sees Stiles and Scott leaning against the wall, foreheads resting on their knees.

As he’s staring, Scott looks up, finally noticing that he’s got company. It’s that lack of attention that’s almost got him killed but Derek can’t word it fast enough before Scott’s eyes flash angrily. Derek growls low in his throat but the fight seeps out of Scott even before he can work out the sound. Derek watches his head fall back and he knows instantly what it is; bone-deep tiredness.

He thinks of what Scott's done today and pads forward. He’s only half way across the floor when Stiles lifts his head and says, “Stop,” and Scott’s eyes go dark again. Before he can make it all the way, Stiles snorts out, "Stop," and Scott's eyes flash again. It brings Derek up short. He's the _Alpha_. They don't tell him what to do.

"Come closer," Scott spits, "and I _will_ kill you."

"You can try," Derek growls out, working the words past the throat of a wolf.

Derek smells anger and not much else. Stiles usually reeks of enough fear for everyone but surprisingly, both of them are just mired in fury. Derek stands firm, hackles raised but against something he can't determine.

"You ruined everything," Scott says, his voice tight.

If Derek were human, he'd roll his eyes. As it is, he just barks a laugh. "You had to know-"

"Dude," Stiles cuts in, eyes dark and angry. "You knew."

Derek swings his head to look at Stiles. He's not sure when the kid got so brave, or managed to stop himself starting at the look on Derek's face - wolf or not - and he finally goes human; Scott deserves that at least.

Scott finally looks him in the eye. "Why did you lie?"

Derek's not used to this; he’s not used to dealing with humans. Except Scott's not human anymore. He's a beta - _Derek's_ beta. He bites back on an angry retort and stares at them, Scott and Stiles both, still angry and growing braver with every second. "The Alpha had to die.”

His voice is tight as he says it and he thinks of his Uncle, the guy that used to bounce Derek on his knee as a kid, the guy who killed his sister, who almost killed Derek with as little remorse.  
“You said it would cure him," Stiles cuts in. "Were you lying?"

Derek doesn't know what to say. It’s a lie but not one he can ever explain to them. They won’t understand. "It's too late to do anything."

"Because of you," Stiles says and Scott nods.

Derek's used to handling one or the other. They're a united front and he thinks of how powerful that could be directed at anyone else. He feels his own anger itching just under the surface but he holds back on it. Scott's done everything he's asked, with bitching and backchat and _Stiles_ , but he's done it and Derek owes his life to the both of them. Maybe Scott’s hurt Derek too but it’s the better the devil you know and Derek knows which of them is the real devil.

“I'm supposed to trust my alpha."

The words cut deep into the wolf part of Derek and he flinches. Derek is too slow to turn his face and so Stiles and Scott both see. _Fuck_. He resists the urge to whimper, to appeal to his beta. An alpha protects their pack; without trust, they can't _work_.

"I'm -" Derek shakes his head, keeps eyes contact with Scott and transforms. He can't say the words human; they won't mean enough. He drops to all fours and pads his way closer to the boys. This time they let him.

When Derek pauses, there's a beat where nobody moves. They look at each other, Stiles and Scott beginning to smell normal and Derek just watching. He doesn't know if they're all waiting for something different but then Scott reaches out. It has to be him; Derek's the alpha and can make him but he's not Peter.

He's angry at Scott for things he shouldn't be and he knows Scott will always be angry about this but he can't change it. He dips his head and lets Scott touch the scruff of his neck where he won’t ever let him touch as human. Scott sucks in a breath and his eyes flash as Stiles looks between them, one hand on Scott's waist. Derek wonders, just for a brief moment, if Stiles has forgiven Scott his own transgressions. It doesn't matter in the long run and he growls, low and hard in his throat. Scott whines; he's beta and he has to give in but he's fighting it. Derek needs him to be on side and he knows just how a wolf would; force, make Scott submit. Derek knows that won't work, it hasn't so far and it's fighting a losing battle. Scott needs something else and Derek doesn't _want_ to know what it is, even if he does. He remembers it himself from just after the fire. The knowledge that you were along among a sea of people.

Scott's Pack - that means Stiles too - and right now he knows they're tired and angry and hurting. He's supposed to take care of that; Laura would. How angry would she be, he wonders vaguely, all this time? Is he protecting Scott enough? What more can he do?

It only makes him angrier but this time not at Scott. He presses forward, nudges Scott's hand and growls. "Move."

Scott shakes his head, bone-tired and just sinks his forehead against Derek's neck.

Derek freezes. This isn't what he had in mind. He swings his head to look at Stiles but the kid is just parts amused and resigned. Derek backs up a little but Scott doesn't dislodge; he just follows, fingers sliding into Derek's fur.

Stiles tilts his head. "You're alpha," he says, as if that explains everything.

Derek doesn't know if it does; he wanted alpha, that doesn't mean he really knows what to do. He's twenty-two for crying out loud, he's just –

"He needs you," Stiles says again, this time firm and dangerous, like _he's_ the one with the power. Derek gives a customary growl but he's not angry, realises he's not as Scott whispers something into his neck.

"Sorry," he says, and Derek hates himself, not for the first time. Like the kid has to apologise.

He hates everything; life, the Argents, but most of all Peter. If he had left well enough alone. Now Derek has to contend with this; a beta and his human friend and the mess they're making of everything. He doesn't want to deal with it but he has to. He has to make it work, so he settles down on his back legs and draws Scott with him. It's almost a relief when he sinks to the ground and Scott presses his face into warm fur. Derek stares at him, not sure what he's supposed to do.

There's a scuffling on the floor and then Stiles is down too. Derek thinks about growling, telling him to back off but he can't deny Stiles is Pack too. Scott would never let him shut Stiles out, not after this, and Stiles saved _Derek_. He's has helped them more than even Derek knows. Allowing them both to drift for a while, Derek stares down at them, wondering just how he's supposed to protect _this_ Pack. It's only when he realises that they're both dead to the world that he smells it. He draws back his lips, growling low.

 _Threat._

**Author's Note:**

> there will be more real!wolf fics just because i can.


End file.
